France Edge Paraguay, Morocco Go Three Past Canada
By Clement Ouma
France have qualified for the 2026 World Cup quarter finals after a narrow 1-0 win over Paraguay, a match played late last night at Philadelphia Stadium.
Kylian Mbape scored the only goal from a penalty spot in the 70th minute to edge the aggressive and cynical Paraguay who shocked Germany in the previous round.
France created close to zero chances in the first half and only made breakthrough in after 25 minutes of second half owing to Diego Gomez unnecessary challenge, who brought down Desire Doue in the area. Despite being denied of quality service, Mbape successfully converted the penalty to break Paraguay’s defiance.
Gustavo Alfaro’s side tried a comeback in the last 20 minutes of the game but they seem unlikely to equalize. The dramatic match also witnessed three yellow cards shown to France players as Paraguay secured zero. Among those yellow carded included Manu Kone, Bradley Barcola and Michael Olise. France will play Morocco in the quarter finals later this month
In another match, Morocco became the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup quarter finals after hammering Canada 3-0 at full time with Azzedine Qunahi scoring a brace to secure their comfortable lead.
At stoppage time, Soufiane Rahimi sealed the victory for Morocco, striking one more goal to make it 3-0.
The first few minutes of first half saw Canada containing and possessing the game but they were not clinical enough to put the ball into the net. Morocco however learned from their mistakes, became lethal in their attacks and easily scored the three goals.
Morocco will take on France in the 2026 FIFA World Cup quarter-final on Thursday, 9 July 2026. The match will be played at Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts with kickoff at 11:pm Kenyan Time.
This will be a highly anticipated match as both teams eye the semi final of the tournament. It will also be an interesting game considering that both teams are in good form.
In today’s fixture, Brazil will play Norway at 11:00pm while England will tackle Mexico in the round of 16. The team which qualifies between Brazil and Norway will either meet Mexico or England in the quarter final.
Comments
No approved comments yet. Be the first to join the conversation.